- Microsoft is allowing Xbox One owners a chance to see the Xbox Series X interface in action.
- The new UI revamps the Guide, notifications, parties, and the Activity Feed.
- Insider previews will bring multi-device sign-ons, profile themes, and a new look.
You don’t need to wait until the Xbox Series X release in November to try Microsoft’s latest console interface — it’s available on your Xbox One right now.
Microsoft is rolling out an August 2020 update for the Xbox One that will give you an idea of what the Xbox Series X interface will be. It’s not a complete overhaul, but it makes improvements to key experiences on the company’s game consoles.
Xbox Series X interface: What’s new?
The Guide has received some of the biggest improvements. There is a cleaner interface and quicker access to utilities such as your audio settings and search. There’s also a new notifications inbox that melds your alerts, invitations, and messages into one feed that includes content from all your Xbox apps. Parties and chats include message previews and per-person volume controls. Newcomers will get more tips to help them master the console.
The Activity Feed has been rethought as well. It focuses more on user-made content with less cluttered, more equally-weighted posts. This should help you to see friends’ screenshots and videos easily.
Read more: How PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X compare
Microsoft is also teasing further changes for Insider preview releases. You’ll notably have the opportunity to sign into as many Xbox devices and apps as you want. You won’t need to worry about logging into a phone to start a cloud gaming session when you’ve already signed into your Xbox.
Profile Themes within the Xbox Series X interface, meanwhile, will help you quickly personalize the look of your console software. As of this week, you should also see a “visual update” on the Xbox One with different tile and font appearances, among other cosmetic changes. It’s not a radical revision, Microsoft said.
This might be disappointing if you were hoping that Microsoft would use the Series X to rethink its interface. It’s a logical move for the company, mind you. This not only saves effort (potentially crucial to releasing the system on time), it provides a gentler learning curve for veteran gamers — you don’t need to relearn the interface when you update consoles.
